letter from council to check benefit entilitment

raven83

Hi, just come downstairs and noticed something near my front door, when i looked it is a letter from my council saying that they called today but you was out, this is a visit of our anti fraud strategy and is to confirm your current circumstances and that you are recieving the correct benefit entitlement. It goes on to say to contact me and it it will only take a few minutes of my time.


Is this just a random spot check letter or something more sinister? I live here with my partner and 3 kids. I am so annoyed as they came yesterday and i was in but never heard the door, now i have to wait till next week to contact them, very annoying. Has anyone else had this?

CIS

Is this just a random spot check letter or something more sinister? I live here with my partner and 3 kids. I am so annoyed as they came yesterday and i was in but never heard the door, now i have to wait till next week to contact them, very annoying. Has anyone else had this?

It could be a targeted check or it could be random, they do both.

Is it from the council or from DWP ?, DWP also do random check in addition to the council (its as much an audit on the council as it is an anti fraud check)

raven83

CIS wrote: »

It could be a targeted check or it could be random, they do both.

Is it from the council or from DWP ?, DWP also do random check in addition to the council (its as much an audit on the council as it is an anti fraud check)

It's from my council. I had a claim review form from the dwp couple of months ago which they said everything was as it should be and they were happy with that. Now i get a letter from the council. It says it takes a few minutes to check, what do they do then?

daimonde

my LA do checks on all claims (personally think its a waste of resources but hey ho) after 3months of the claim being made.

they literally just check the info we have is correct, im not saying its the same for you but thats an idea of what happens.

raven83

daimonde wrote: »

my LA do checks on all claims (personally think its a waste of resources but hey ho) after 3months of the claim being made.

they literally just check the info we have is correct, im not saying its the same for you but thats an idea of what happens.

Well we got nothing to hide, it is just how they word the letter and mention fraud. What do they do on these visits?

raven83

anyone else had this before?

stassy23

i had a man come round from the council a few years back to check claims i was at college then and asked if i had taken out a student loan or was it funded, asked who i lived with which i said partner, and 2 children and one on the way he then said ok fine all done so not sure what it was all about i am honest and had nothing to hide i am sure you will be fine xx

raven83

stassy23 wrote: »

i had a man come round from the council a few years back to check claims i was at college then and asked if i had taken out a student loan or was it funded, asked who i lived with which i said partner, and 2 children and one on the way he then said ok fine all done so not sure what it was all about i am honest and had nothing to hide i am sure you will be fine xx

I think it is just to spot check people checking who you say is living there actually does. It is jsut the wording they use like fraud, it makes me feel a bit uneasy even though i have nothing to hide and i know it is most probably a random check but it is unerving.

Anubis_2

raven83 wrote: »

I think it is just to spot check people checking who you say is living there actually does. It is jsut the wording they use like fraud, it makes me feel a bit uneasy even though i have nothing to hide and i know it is most probably a random check but it is unerving.

We have had similar before, not sure if the same letter, as its a few years ago, and I think related to when we first claimed HB - but we just showed bank statements, they recorded who lived here and that was the end of it.

raven83

Anubis wrote: »

We have had similar before, not sure if the same letter, as its a few years ago, and I think related to when we first claimed HB - but we just showed bank statements, they recorded who lived here and that was the end of it.

Yeah i think it is just a standard check, still makes you worry though.

stassy23

i think its a good idea because theres alot of fraud going on but they seem to pick the ones who are doing it right lol